Etrian Odyssey Untold: Of Love
by YukiHayateRei
Summary: Summary: A story about Frederica and the Highlander and them showing their affection for each other.
1. Chapter 1: Feelings of worry

Etrian Odyssey Untold: Of Love  
Summary: A story about Frederica and the Highlander and them showing their affection for each other.

Authors Note:Due to the way the game works, there will be quite a bit of OOCness. Hell, at some points Simon even reminds me of Jade from Tales of the Abyss. Oh, and in this the Highlander is named Kain, and the guild Lysenthia.

Chapter 1  
Feelings of Worry  
"Is it safe?" Simon queried, looking in the opposite direction for signs of any backstabbing monsters.  
"Yup. The boulder is a boulder." Arthur and Raquna popped out from around the corner, signalling for the others to come. The party advanced down the path, taking note of the passage that might be traversable if it was cleared on the other side.  
"Man, why won't anything interesting happen. If it's clear all the way through it's boring."  
"Arthur, stop being so battle mad. It's a good thing if we can get some rest from constantly being attacked by monsters."  
"Raquna's right. If a fight does get too difficult though, we can just leave Arthur there to hold off the enemies while we escape."  
"Hey, why do I have to stay behind?! Kain, are you trying to get me killed off?"  
"I wouldn't mind if he was."  
"Thanks for the great encouragement, Simon." Arthur retorted. Frederica, who had calmly watching the display started giggling.  
"You guys get along well."  
Kain looked at the girl for a few seconds and smiled.  
It's nice to see her smiling. He thought. The group stepped out into a clearing, taking in the sights around them. They were about to step back onto a path again when Kain noticed something wrong. A boulder covered in vines that had been lying in the bushes lifted up, and two great white eyes opened up, staring down at what had entered its territory. Frederica turned slightly as the boar prepared to charge.  
"Move!"  
Kain threw himself at Frederica, knocking the girl out of the beast's path. With blinding speed, the stone boar charged at Kain, leaving little time for reaction. Just as it reached him, Kain pulled his spear up at the beasts head. ≪_Head Pierce_≫ Driven by its own momentum, the boar ran straight onto the spear, which blasted through the beasts head and ripped apart its brain, killing it instantly. Unable to stop, the body slammed into Kain, sending him tumbling through the air to smash through a tree, then impact the ground with a hearty thud and then keep rolling for a bit. The first to react was Frederica, rushing to his side and cradling his head and shoulders in her arms.  
"Kain!"  
She shook him.  
"Kain!"  
She shook him a bit harder.  
"Kain, wake up!"  
Tears began to form in her eyes, and Frederica pulled Kain up and hugged him tightly.  
"Please Kain, wake up" She whispered gently.  
"I don't think any could get to sleep with you doing that to them"  
"K-Kain, I thought-"  
Kain brought his arm up around Frederica's neck and head, pulling her gently towards him until their foreheads were touching.  
"Sorry," He whispered "did I scare you?"  
"Yes, you did, idiot."  
"Hoho~ how sickeningly sweet."  
The duo spun their heads at Raquna comment to see her, Simon and Arthur standing there with hands mockingly covering their mouths. Instantly Frederica and Kain's faces flushed red, and she was so flustered that Frederica could swear she felt steam coming off her face. The girl gently rested Kain down on the ground and cleared her throat.  
"Simon, if you would, please heal Kain's injuries and help move him back to the inn."  
"Right." The man sat down by the Highlander's side and began his inspection of the wounds.  
"A broken right arm, leg, and dislocated shoulder. Heavy grazing, skin damage and lacerations. No sign of concussion or head trauma. I should be able to heal most of it. We will begin immediately."  
"Right." Kain responded, and proceeded to replace his dislocated shoulder with a hearty smash. Which he regretted immediately. Pain coursed through his body, forcing him to try and cower instinctively to protect himself.  
"...You idiot." Simon's thoughts on Kain's actions were simple, and, in this case, highly accurate. Raquna set about building a makeshift stretcher with her shield, and after a bit of treatment the injured patient was hoisted back to Etria.

End note: Yay! My first fanfic chapter, complete! Reviews and constructive criticism welcomed, but no needless flaming please.


	2. Chapter 2: Embarrassing situation

Chapter 2  
Embarrassing situation  
"Sorry for all the trouble."  
"Trouble? You saved Frederica. If you hadn't jumped that boar, we would be dealing with someone in a much, much worse condition."  
"Speaking of which how is Frederica? She didn't get hurt by it, right?"  
Simon hesitated slightly.  
"Uhh, actually, she's..."  
He nodded to the other side of the bed. Kain turned slightly.  
"Uhwahgwa!"  
Kain flushed red. The small girl was curled up next to him, gently murmuring in her sleep.  
"She's been awake most of the 3 days you were out. She didn't really like coffee before, and I'll bet she hates it now. Raquna eventually had to slip her some drugs to make sure she got some sleep. Got to hand it to her, she's got quite some determination. Has to be the power of love, right?"  
"...Shut up Simon."  
Kain turned back round to Frederica.  
"But, thanks, Frederica."  
The Highlander gently pressed his lips against the girl's forehead. Right at that moment the girl's eyes fluttered open.  
"わあ! あ-あの,何,が! Kyaa!"  
The two threw themselves away from each in embarrassment, falling to the ground with a nasty thudding sound.  
"What happened?!"  
Raquna rushed into the room, to find Kain and Frederica lying on the ground, holding their heads in pain.  
"Okay, wait, what happened?"  
"There was a rather exciting event. Kain here is just so~ bold."  
"...Don't tell me that he, enticed by Frederica's cuteness did... Things to her."  
"He kissed her."  
"Oh, so he only kissed her. Wait! This is a huge development! Simon! Tell me in full detail!"  
"Oh just shut up!" Kain yelled.  
"Ok."  
Raquna and Simon both headed for the door, but just before he closed it, Simon popped his head back through and said:  
"Oh, by the way, you're still recovering and supposed to take it easy, so don't go at too hard, ok~"  
"Just leave."  
Kain threw a pillow at Simon, but the door was closed before it could make contact with the Mark.  
"Sorry, that must've been pretty creepy for me to do that, right?"  
"No it's fine."  
I actually liked it, Frederica thought.  
"But, um, what was it?"  
"Traditional Highlander greeting?"  
I hope she buys it, thought Kain.  
"Oh, is that so."  
That's a bit disappointing, the girl thought.  
"It's getting kinda late so we should be getting to bed soon."  
"Yeah, true. I'll go see if there's another room available for me."  
Frederica responded, and she moved for the door.  
Kain patted the bed next to him.  
"Actually, I thought you might, uh, stay here. They're probably full tonight anyway."  
Frederica blushed slightly.  
"Um, yeah... You're right there probably aren't any rooms left to book, so I have to share the night with you because we don't want to disturb the others. So I have to spend the night with you!"  
The girl half walked calmly, half sprinted back towards the bed, and was soon wrapped up in the blankets alongside the awkward boy. Kain noticed the gap between them.  
"Um... It will probably be quite cold tonight, so we should probably keep closer to keep warm." He said as an excuse.  
"Okay." Frederica, now armed with that excuse, snuggled up into Kain, and put her arms around the  
boy, who responded in turn.  
It's warm, they both thought.


	3. Chapter 3: Waking up together

Chapter 3  
Waking up together  
Frederica's eyes fluttered open. It's cold, she thought. The girl dragged herself out of the bed, and towards the fire that was blazing happily with a few cushions in front of it.  
It's still cold, she thought.  
Suddenly, Frederica felt something warm in her lap. She looked down and found a hand holding a mug of brown steaming liquid. Coffee? No, wrong colour and smell. It's a hot chocolate!  
"Thanks, Kain."  
The girl took the mug from the boy's hands and took a sip of the drink. Warmth flowed through her mouth and body. Kain sat down on the cushion next to Frederica, and nervously sat there a bit. After a short while Frederica could feel a blanket fall over her shoulders and a warm arm pull her closer to the boy next to her.  
"You'll get cold if you just sit there like that."  
"Right."  
Frederica snuggled in close to Kain and rested her head on his shoulder.  
It's warm, she thought.


	4. Chapter 4: A request for the Two

Chapter 4  
A request for the Two  
(The Inn's request I)  
"The waters been tainted?!"  
Frederica and Kain both exclaimed their surprise at the same time.  
"How did this happen?"  
"The inn's water supply is from a water tank in the roof. Usually this is filled with water pumped from an underground stream from a spring that only the inn can access due to its positioning. It would seem that the spring has been filled with a type of moss called anlyople that leeches a substance into that water, which is responsible for the taint. It isn't harmful, but anyone who drinks it will act strangely, then once they fall asleep for any time from to two to five days."  
Five days?! That explains why the others are out cold, thought Kain.  
"I would like to make a request that you clean the spring of the moss. I can give you five all mists for it, as well as one to purify the spring with, as well as 30,000 En."  
"Where's the spring?" Asked Frederica.  
"It's about a 50 Kilometre hike from here. It would take 4 days to get there and back walking at a comfortable pace. I can provide a map, if you wish to take up my request."  
"This sounds interesting. What do you think, Kain?"  
"I say we take up the request."  
"Okay. Sounds good to us. Could we have a map please?"  
Now I can be alone with Kain, Frederica thought.  
Now I can be alone with Frederica, Kain thought.

The duo happily strode along the path, side by side. Frederica cleared her throat and held her hand out towards Kain.  
"How about we hold hands? That way it's harder for us to get separated."  
Before he even responded Kain slipped his hand hand into the girls, marvelling for a second at how perfectly two peoples hands could link like that.  
"Sounds like a good idea to me."  
It was nice, Kain thought, how the two of them could just wander together free of others and free of violence when they walked above the Labyrinth of the Yggdrasil.

Several Hours Later  
Kain dropped his pack to the ground, half collapsing in exhaustion.  
"Why, does, this, hill, have, to, be, so, steep?"  
"Etria, is, located, in, valley, created, by, ripples, on, the, surface, of, Yggdrasil, which, due, to, its, unstable, nature, means, the waves, are, highly, erratic. Plus, you're carrying such a large pack around with you, it's no wonder why you get tired."  
Frederica pulled the map the innkeeper gave out of her.  
"What I want to know though is why there's a giant blank space where the forest is."  
Kain bent over and peered at the map.  
"I think the dangerous forests of the Labyrinth must have made surveyors overly cautious, and due to the hype over the Labyrinth no adventurers really cared about some mere forest on the surface."  
"Still, makes you curious, doesn't it?"  
"It's pretty close to the spring, so we should go check it out when we stay overnight."  
"Sounds like fun" The girl grinned.  
The two started off again.  
Soon enough, a bubbling stream appeared next to them, and the stream would lead them straight to the spring. Eventually the stream began to widen.  
"Wow! This is beautiful!"  
Frederica ran to the bank of the stream, taking in everything around her. Kain jogged over next to her, but the ground was too unstable. It began to break apart.  
"Kya!"  
The ground Frederica was standing on collapsed, throwing her out into the river.  
After a few attempts, the Kain managed to help hoist her out, but by then Frederica was completely soaked to her skin.  
"Here. You need to get something dry on or you'll get sick"  
Kain held out the shirt he had just taken off.  
"T-Thanks"  
Frederica blushed slightly.  
"Huh? What is it, Frederica?"  
"Could you… turn around."  
"O-Oh, right. Sorry."  
The boy faced the opposite direction, resisting a slight urge to quickly take a peek behind.  
"I'm done now."  
Kain looked back. The effect was instantaneous. The two of them blushed furiously, and diverted their gaze to something off to the side.  
It smells like him, the girl thought.  
"We should probably set up camp."  
Kain nodded a few times, trying not to look at his companion.  
Then the wind blew.  
"Kyaa!"  
Frederica screamed, but when Kain spun around to see what was happening he only saw her desperately trying to hold down his shirt in the wind.  
Thinking she was ill, Kain ran over to help the girl.  
"Are you all right!?"  
He tried to reach out to Frederica, but she put an arm to his chest to stop him.  
"I'm alright, it's just that I don't have..."  
"What is it?"  
Frederica blushed an even brighter red.  
"It's just that I'm not wearing any underwear!" The girl shouted, dying on the inside from embarrassment.  
Kain could only respond to that with a simple "Huh?"  
"When I fell in the river my panties got soaked, so I'm not wearing any underwear under this!"  
"I know! I get that. But isn't that being over the top? I mean to think that you aren't..."  
Kain looked Frederica up and down. He was feeling dizzy.  
"Gah! Whatever! Let's just set up camp for tonight."  
The companions set about starting a fire and cooking a meal. Frederica laid out her wet clothes on a rock near the fire. When they were about to turn in for the night Frederica realised that she had a problem.  
"My cloaks saturated."  
"Well this is bad..."  
The girl sit about laying out the contents of her bag around the fire, all of which was completely dripping with water.  
"I hope my bullets aren't wet..."  
She lay down on the ground and tried to find a comfortable position.  
"Good night, Kain."  
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?"  
"What?"  
Frederica threw her eyes open.  
"You are NOT sleeping on the ground in the cold like that."  
"There's a fire."  
"Doesn't count."  
Kain unwrapped his cloak and signalled for Frederica to come over to where he was.  
"You can't seriously think that we can both wrap up in that."  
"Sure we can. It'll just be a bit tight, that's all. But we've slept up close together before."  
Frederica considered this for a half second.  
"True."  
She wriggled into the cloak, and Kain wrapped it tight around them.  
"On second thought, this is quite embarrassing."  
"Do you really care though?"  
"No, not really

* * *

Authors note: If anyone actually reads up to here, I won't be writing for this for a while due to the fact that I making a logical SAO fic and a dozen original stories.


	5. Chapter 5: The Second Day

Chapter 5

The Second Day

(Couldn't think of anything better.)

(The Inn's request II)

Kain awoke to an implacable but familiar sweet smell.

He looked across and saw Frederica working at the fire. The girl looked over at him, noticing he was awake.

"Good morning, Kain."

"Morning, Frederica. Is that breakfast?"

"Yeah. I thought that since we have a long day ahead we should have something with a bit more substance in the morning."

"It smells good."

"Food should taste good, right? I used some spices in it."

Kain's mind clicked as her recognised the smell.

"Are those spices good for cleaning too?"

Frederica looked at the boy in surprise.

"Yes, it is. How did you know?"

"You use it in your shampoo. It smells the same as your hair."

Frederica reached for her hair and blushed a luminescent red.

"G-Geez, you idiot. Why do you have to say something that would embarrass me like that?"

Frederica stuttered over her words, and reached for the pot over the fire so she could take her mind off the embarrassment. The girl filled a bowl with the broth from the pot and pushed it into Kain's hands.

"There you go. Eat up."

Kain took a spoonful.

"Amazing! This is great, Frederica. You'll make an excellent wife someday."

"Is that you proposing?"

"Hmm...Yup, I guess it is."

A luminescent blush lit up Frederica's face, again.

"You're just trying to make me blush as much as you can, aren't you?"

"Hahaha. And I'm succeeding."

"But if you did propose, I'd say yes..."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!"

Kain looked about and settled his eyes on the river.

I could hear you what you just said perfectly, dummy, he thought.

On the road

Frederica looked about.

"Did you hear that?"

Kain looked at the girl in quizzically.

"No. What is it?"

This time, Kain couldn't miss it. A beautiful fanfare of bird's chirpping filled the air. Myriads of tiny birds with tails like fans danced about on the wind, swooping past them.

"Amazing!"

Frederica spun around as the birds flew around her, her skirt and pigtails flying around her.

You're just as amazing, Kain thought.

"I've never seen birds like them."

"They look like birds that lived in a country in the southern regions of the world in my time. I guess they never changed even after a millennia."

Kain watched the dancing girl, smiling.

"Well, I guess they must've readapted to live in a different location."

"Ah, they're heading in the same direction as us! Let's follow them!"

Frederica and Kain finally squeezed through the last gap in rocks, leading them into a wide clearing.

"Hey Kain, that's the spring, isn't it?"

"Yup, gotta be it."

Unmissably large, a spring lay close part to the rock wall they had just passed through.

"Ah, there's another stream leading into a pool. We should go bath later to get rid off the rock dust."

"Right, let's set up camp."

A/N: This was supposed to be done several weeks ago, but alas, I am too lazy. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, and hopefully I'll write faster now.


End file.
